Mumbai-based auctioneer AstaGuru’s modern Indian art sale achieves US$12.7 mln

A work by MV Dhurandhar. Photo: AstaGuru

AstaGuru, an auction house specialising in Modern Indian Art, concluded its online sale after competitive bidding for a line-up of 41 iconic modern Indian masterpieces, the auction garnered a total sale value of INR 93,18,78,408 (US$ 12,765,436).

The auction also included a collection of artworks created by artists at pivotal points in their careers creating world records for 3 artists - N S Bendre, M V Dhurandhar and Krishen Khanna.

Concerning the outcomes, Sunny Chandiramani, Vice President - Client Relations, AstaGuru Auction House said, "AstaGuru is extremely proud and humbled with the outcome of our Modern Indian Art auction. The result is a testament to AstaGuru's legacy and leadership of offering exceptional and unique works in the modern Indian art market. With every curation, we aspire to fulfil our collectors' sentiment to acquire distinctive artworks that are rare to come by.

With milestone creations by modern Indian artists, the auction featured several works which made their auction debut. The overwhelming response underscores the continued demand for works by the modernists that are new to the auction market and have great provenance. Moreover, three world records including a 100-year-old painting by M V Dhurandhar absolutely affirms our commitment to bring the best that Indian modernism has to offer."

Several important works by legendary modernist M F Husain at various stages of his career were also auctioned off.

The stellar collection also included Avant-Garde works by more eminent Indian modernists such as Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher-Gil, Sailoz Mookherjea, Ramkinkar Baij, Jogen Chowdhury, S H Raza, Ram Kumar, K H Ara, H A Gade, Prabhakar Barwe, B Prabha, Ganesh Pyne, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Satish Gujral, Himmat Shah.